Opening its doors Oct. 6, the fresh seafood restaurant expands its California locations and settles in Phoenix. Delicacies such as catfish, red snapper, Atlantic lobster and freshly made chowder are available with more than 40 varieties of seafood offered annually. Bluewater Grill also features daily lunch and dinner menus, an oyster bar, a sushi bar and kids menu.

You can confidently hook almost any of the no-frills, grilled daily catch. You may find silky ahi tuna ($23), meaty Hawaiian opah ($17.50), delicate mahi mahi ($17.75), moist trout ($16.95) and shimmering cod ($18.25). And the ponzu-drizzled sashimi sea scallops ($11.50) are luscious, decoratively served in the shell and cleverly brightened with wasabi aioli, seaweed salad and masago (smelt roe).

But that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes the list of ready-for-prime-time dishes at new Bluewater Grill, most of whose ocean fare will do nothing to improve Phoenix's reputation as a dismal seafood
town.

After the fish is pulled from the ocean, it shouldn't matter if it's flown to Chicago, New York or Phoenix. Moreover, that lame lament certainly shouldn't apply to Bluewater Grill, whose three other branches are about an hour's plane ride away in Southern California.

The company bought out the Fish Market in September 2009, after a 23-year run. The casual nautical look - wood tables, vintage photos, trophy fish on the wall - hasn't changed much downstairs. (The upstairs room, which used to be the Fish Market's more formal dining area, is now reserved for private parties.) But location and decor aren't the only connection between the restaurants. So is family: Bluewater Grill co-founder Richard Staunton is the son-in-law of Fish Market co-founder A. C. Duckett Jr.

The transition, however, has been shaky. From appetizers to sides, from specialties to desserts, Bluewater Grill never comes across as a destination seafood experience.

It is, however, a destination bread experience. The sourdough loaves are great, warm, crusty and tangy. But, alas, man cannot live by bread alone.

And man certainly can't live on appetizers like the dreadful ceviche lettuce wraps ($8.95), a thimbleful of flavorless shrimp overwhelmed with diced tomato and served with three puny lettuce leaves. The smoked albacore and salmon duo ($9.50) tasted old and dry. Looking for culinary finesse? You won't find it in the wonton wafer tower layered with thick-cut, overdressed ahi tuna poke ($10.95), artlessly teamed with sticky rice. At a pricey $9.95, meanwhile, the routine fried calamari is no bargain.

The seafood platter ($34.95) was a singular disappointment. You'd think a seafood restaurant would go all-out to make you ooh-and-aah over what should be a pristine shellfish array. And we did ooh-and-aah over those terrific ponzu-drizzled scallops. The six big, firm prawns were fine, too. But several of the Hama Hama oysters were gritty, and they all lacked the briny bite they're known for.

Worst of all, though, were the King crab legs.

Maybe they walked here from Alaska. Or maybe they got just mishandled somewhere along the way. Whatever the cause, the desiccated crab meat was utterly inedible. Moreover, one of the legs - I didn't have the courage to crack the shell and explore further - smelled funky. Take my word for it: It's hard to enjoy a seafood meal when you're sniffing everything on your plate in self-defense.

While the rest of the ocean fare passed the smell test, none of it showed any signs of distinction. The cioppino ($22.95), which sported a rich, flavorful winey sauce, had a shot. But the dish was subverted by unworthy seafood: rubbery shrimp, scallops, mussels and clams, as well as over-the-hill Dungeness crab whose freshest days were behind it.

Don't bother reeling in cedar plank salmon ($20.95) or tempura-yam-crusted halibut ($22.95), two "Bluewater Specialties" whose kitchen additions turned out to be subtractions. A sake soy glaze and scents of orange and pink grapefruit are too much for the salmon to handle. And why take an otherwise perfectly fine piece of halibut and entomb its charms in a thick crust? As for the fried fisherman's platter ($19.95) - shrimp, scallops, fish - it's plenty crunchy, and totally tasteless.

Bluewater Grill's land excursions are just as ragged as the ocean cruise.

No one is putting any effort into the sides and desserts, whose quality barely rises to chain-restaurant commissary level. It's possible that you may not even notice the fries, cole slaw, mashed potatoes, sautéed spinach, rice salad and mixed vegetables even as you're eating them.

You may remember the desserts, but not fondly: The key lime pie ($6.50) is bland; the chocolate lava cake ($6.95) is a ticking sugar bomb; and the supremely awful banana tower ($6.95) is a gloopy, gloppy mess.

Whoever is in charge of the wine list also needs a wake-up call. Since when is Veuve Clicquot Champagne a "red varietal?"

To avoid the Bluewater Grill's turbulent whirlpools, take shelter in the sushi bar.

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